Tangled Guardians
by auburndq91
Summary: Two lonely souls go on the incredible journey that will change their lives forever. Inspired by gtgrandoms video, "Jackunzel / Sally's Song"
1. They Meet

Once upon a time, there was a young girl who lived with her mother in a hidden tower. One winter's night, she decided to sneak down after her mother had fallen asleep and look out the one window. As she was watching the snow fall, she saw a figure pass over the moon; she watched the shadow in awe as his hair turned white as the falling snow. Then she saw the boy float back down to the ground, wondering where he could have gone. A few moments later, he flew back up and saw her. She gasped and ducked under the windowsill in fear. The boy flew over to the window and whispered, "Hello there? I could have sworn there was someone in here staring at me. I know I'm a sight but I'd like to at least get a good look at _your_ face." The little girl peeked back up over the sill and saw his ice blue eyes for the first time. The boy smirked and let out a soft chuckle. "Well hi there."

"He-hello," She whispered back timidly.

The boy stared at her with wonder and glee. "So you can actually see me?"

She nodded.

The boy almost flew so far backwards in shock he would have hit the tree branches. He composed himself, flew back and gave the girl a warm smile. "So what are you doing all the way up here?"

"Me and my mother live here."

"Really? You live a bit high for someone so small."

"I'm not small, you're just big."

He let out a chuckle. "Well you have a point there." The little girl shushed him and looked back, waiting to see if her mother heard the noise.

"Oops, sorry. Your mom's asleep huh?"

"Uh-huh. And she'd get really mad if she saw you here. She doesn't like strangers."

"Well, that's understandable I guess. We'll have to fix that. My name's Jack Frost. What's yours?"

"My name's Rapunzel"


	2. They Begin

Jack and Rapunzel had developed quite a rapport over the years, and had become fast friends. Jack would come over every time Rapunzel's mother would leave the tower. Every time, he would try and convince her to come with him, just for a little bit, and every time she would say no. But one time, it was a bit different. It was days before her 18th birthday and she'd been telling Jack for years about her birthday stars. She'd always said how she longed to go and see them from somewhere other than her tower window. Jack tried every year to get her to go with him, but she was too afraid of everything her mother told her. Jack tried to convince her it wasn't true, but she was still afraid. However, a fight with her mother had sparked a fire in her. She called out for Jack after her mother left. Jack flew to the window with the same smirk he always had. "You bellowed, Zellie?" She nodded and said, "Let's go."

"Wait, what?"

"You want to take me to see the stars, right? Well, I'm ready. Let's go."

"Hold on"

He flew back down to the ground and paced around for a few moments before Rapunzel shouted, "What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for you down here. This way, I know for sure you're ready."

Rapunzel gulped and with a deep breath threw her hair down and practically flew down the side of the tower, Jack cheering for her all the way. When she landed, she ran for the hidden entrance her mother always took and jumped and took everything in for the first time in her life. As she rolled around on the grass, Jack sat down next to her and said chuckling "As much as I love watching you roll around like a puppy, we do have to get going if we want to get to the village in time for your birthday." Rapunzel giggled, got up and brushed herself off. She had started to walk forward when Jack stopped her again. "Hold on." He flew back to the tower, came back with a frying pan in his hand and handed it to Rapunzel. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?" Jack huffed. "There're dangers in that forest. You gotta protect yourself. Besides, this was the closest thing to a weapon I could find in that place." She chuckled and took the frying pan. Jack then took Rapunzel's hand and began to lead the way into the forest.


	3. She Remembers

As they started to walk through the forest, Rapunzel couldn't help thinking of the first time she met Jack, floating outside her window.

"My name's Rapunzel."

Jack smiled and bowed, "Well it's a pleasure to meet you Rapunzel. Now that we're not strangers, would you mind if I sat down for a bit? This floating thing can tire a guy out."

Rapunzel giggled and shook her head, stepping back and letting Jack sit on the windowsill.

Jack looked at the young girl, taking in her emerald green eyes, and long flowing blonde hair, her immensely long blonde hair. So long it was trailing on the floor a good 6 inches behind her. Rapunzel walked closer to the boy, concentrating very hard on his face. Jack met this stare with a raised eyebrow and smirk. "So why is your hair so bright?"

"Why is your hair so long?"

"I asked you first."

"Well I'm not telling till you do." Jack crossed his arms and stared at Rapunzel. Rapunzel stuck out her tiny tongue and Jack mimicked her. Rapunzel giggled and said, "My hair has magic powers. What about yours?"

"Well I don't know about my hair, but…" He paused for a moment, jumped off the windowsill and knelt down next to Rapunzel. "…I can do this." He held out his hand in front of Rapunzel and above his palm created a beautiful snowflake. He then blew it towards the ceiling and as it touched the wooden support beams, more snow began appearing inside the tower. Rapunzel stared in wonder and amazement. As she let out an audible, "Wow," Jack couldn't help but smile sweetly at the young girl. She's been cooped up in this tower so long, she's probably never even touched snow, let alone seen it up close. Then a creaking came from the bedroom by the stairs. Rapunzel jolted and a look of fear came over her. She whispered fearfully, "It's mother! You've got to get out of here!" Jack nodded and flew quickly towards the windowsill, but before his feet left the edge Rapunzel whispered, "Will I see you again?" Jack looked back and smiled at her. "Tell you what, if you need me or just want to see me again, just call my name and I'll come see you."

"You promise?"

Jack grabbed the young girls hand and locked pinkies with her. "I promise." He winked, flew back towards the window and in a flash, he was gone. Mother Gothel opened the door and looked around the tower in shock. "Rapunzel, what happened in here?"

"I…um..well…"

"Speak up dear. What have I told you about mumbling?"

"I…w-wanted to watch the snow fall and, there was this big gust of wind and some of the snow got inside."

Mother Gothel sighed, shook her head and went to close and lock the window. "I don't want to see any more snow in here. Do you understand?"

"Yes mother."

"I love you very much, Rapunzel dear."

"I love you more, Mommy."

"I love you most." Mother Gothel then picked Rapunzel up and carried her back to bed.


	4. They are Found

Rapunzel was led through the forest by Jack for quite some time before she realized she was still holding his hand. She blushed and pulled it out of his grip quickly. Jack stopped and looked back. "Yeah, I know, my hands are freezing. Sorry about that." He chuckled and continued forward. Rapunzel chuckled embarrassedly and then out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow zip through the tree. She instinctively held out the frying pan in fear. Jack stopped and stared at her. Then he saw the fear on her face and walked over slowly to where she was and stared where she was staring. Then they both heard something behind them, and jumped around to try and see what it was. Then they heard a voice behind them.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't dear old Jack Frost. And it appears you have a friend with you."

Rapunzel was frozen in fear. Jack looked around to try and put a face to the voice. Then a shadow came behind Rapunzel and said in her ear, "Poor dear, she look scared to death. Brilliant." Rapunzel swung the frying pan around and hit air.

"Jack, what's going on?

"Don't worry, we're gonna be alright. Just stick by me, ok?

"You promise?"

Jack smirked and linked their pinkies together, like he always did when he meant to keep a promise. Rapunzel let out a small sigh of relief and moved close to Jack, keeping her frying pan ready to strike.

"Oh how precious." The voice said again, in a mocking tone. "But I'd be careful about making promises you can't keep."

Then a Nightmare grabbed Rapunzel's hair and began to pull. Rapunzel let out a shriek, dropped the frying pan and grabbed her hair.

"Rapunzel!"

Jack quickly swung his staff and a beam of blue white light shot out. As it struck its target the mare disintegrated into black sand in the blonde hair. Then another mare came out from the shadows and struck Jack, sending him into a tree, where one of the branches met his hand and left a deep cut. He let out a grunt of pain. Rapunzel quickly grabbed her frying pan and swung it at the mare. It too disintegrated as soon as it was struck.

"Ah so the lady does have some fight in her. I was hoping this wouldn't go too quickly, I do enjoy a bit of fun with my guests."

The voice that had been surrounding them now had formed a face from the shadows. A long pointed face, black as night with a malicious grin. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Pitch."

Jack let out a hollow laugh. "Oh please, don't let him scare ya Zellie. He's nothing but a shadow on the wall, a monster under the bed."

"Oh Jack, Jack, Jack. I'm much more then that. I am the very essence of fear." He slowly made his way towards the pair. "I know what terrifies you most," He walked toward Rapunzel and forced her eyes towards his with his long dark fingers pushing against her chin. Rapunzels eyes widened in fear, her breath shallow in her throat. Pitch continued, "And I know all the little things that together, will leave you frozen in fear."

"Hey, the only one who'll be doing any freezing around here is me!"

Jack aimed his staff at Pitch and fired. Pitch flew away towards the trees and disappeared out of sight.


	5. They Rest

Jack quickly grabbed Rapunzels wrist. "Let get outta here!"

They both ran and ran until they couldn't see the clearing anymore. By the time they had stopped running, it was nearly sundown. They both collapsed beside a giant tree with large, thick roots. Jack looked around, and went to Rapunzel. "You ok Zellie?"

Rapunzel looked up and nodded. "I think so. What was that all about, Jack?"

Jack turned away and looked towards the setting sun. "It's getting late. We should probably make camp here for the night." He turned towards Rapunzel. "You gonna be ok by yourself while I go get some firewood?" Rapunzel looked at him in confusion at first, but realized that this was clearly something he didn't want to tell her. Hopefully he had a good reason. She let out a chuckle. "As long as I've got this," gesturing to her frying pan, "I think I'll be ok."

Jack smirked and shook his head. "Alright. I'll be back as soon as I can." Jack disappeared into the trees, as Rapunzel began to make a little fire pit with surrounding rocks.

_Sometime later….._

Jack and Rapunzel were sitting on the root by the fire they had both made Rapunzel wrapping her hair around Jack's injured hand. "You know," he said, "you don't have to do this. I'll be fine on my own. Aggh!" Jack hissed as the hair tightened around the wound. "Rapunzel shook her head. "Sure you will, Jack. Besides, I want to. I need to do something to apologize." "Jack looked at her questioningly. "For what?" Rapunzel stared at him with a look of confusion on her face. "For getting us into that mess in the first place."

Jack put his unwrapped hand on Rapunzels shoulders. "Stop right there. That was not your fault. If anything, you saved our butts back there. Oh man, what I wouldn't give to see the look on your mother's face watching you fight off those things."

"I know right?" Rapunzel giggled. She finished wrapping Jacks hand and placed her hand on top of Jacks. "Thank you." Jack smiled warmly as a tint of red began to glow on his cheeks. Jack cleared his throat and hurriedly said, "So –um, you gonna get to it or…"

"Oh right. Sorry." Rapunzel cleared her throat and began to sing.

"_Flower, gleam and glow_

_Let your powers shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_Heal what has been hurt_

_Change the fates design_

_Save what has been lost_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine."_

As she sang, her hair began to glow like the sun, starting from the roots and spreading out towards the ends. As the song ended, the glowing stopped and Jack examined his hand. It was as if the branch never came in contact with his hand. "That feels much better. Thanks Zellie."

"No problem. Now what do you say we get some sleep. We've still got a ways to go, right?"

"Right", Jack chuckled. He flew up towards the branches.

"What are you doing?" Rapunzel asked Jack.

"You go ahead and get some sleep. I'm gonna keep an eye out for Pitch, just in case."

Rapunzel nodded and smiled. "Good night Jack." As she wrapped herself in her hair and Jack looked out towards the moon, a shadow appeared behind them out of sight. Pitch peeked out to the clearing and smiled maliciously.

"Well, well, hair with the power of the Golden Sun Flower. This just got very interesting." And with that, Pitch sank back into the shadows.


	6. He Dreams

That night, Jack dreamt about the first time Rapunzel had shown him her powers.

Rapunzel was 13 at the time, her mother had gone on her monthly trip to get food for the two of them, and Jack was watching Rapunzel teach herself how to sew and cook.

"You're getting really good there, Zellie." Jack commented as she began to chop up apples for a pie she was baking. "You're just saying that." Rapunzel scoffed. Jack jumped down from the mantle of the fireplace and walked over to her. "Oh come on, when do I ever just say anything?"

"What about the first time you tried my cooking? I worked hard on that cake for you."

"In my defense, I'm pretty sure there weren't supposed to be eggshells in the cake."

"I was 7! I could barely reach the counter, let alone the bowl."

"Uh-huh, sure, make up excuses."

Rapunzel closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him. Jack mimicked her but quickly let out a grunt of pain. They both looked down and saw that the knife had come in contact with Jacks hand, blood trailing down. Rapunzels eyes widened in shock and worry. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh. Jack, I'm soooooo sorry." She ran to the cupboard to try and find some bandages. Jack grabbed a dish rag and pressed it against the wound. "Hey it's no big deal. It was my fault anyway, shouldn't have put my hand in the path of that knife." To Rapunzels surprise and shock, they were out of bandage wraps. She began to panic, but then realized what she had to do. It was about time he found out the truth after all. Maybe then he'd stop pressuring her to go outside with him all the time.

"Jack, I've got good news and bad news."

"Well let's start with the bad news first."

"Bad news is we're out of bandages."

"That's, uh, that's pretty bad."

"But the good news is, we don't really need them."

"Huh?"

"Give me your hand." She went to her mother's rocking chair and sat down holding out her hands. Jack skeptically placed his injured hand in hers and she began to wrap her hair around the wound. "Um, what are you-"

"I know what I'm doing. You just have to trust me, ok?"

Rapunzel looked up at him with a very serious look, so serious Jack was a bit taken aback. Jack nodded. As Rapunzel finished wrapping she looked at Jack again with the same serious look on her face. "And promise me one thing. Don't-" she sighed and held out her pinkie. "Don't freak out, ok?" Jack linked his uninjured hands pinkie with hers. "Ok"

Rapunzel took a deep breath and began to sing. As she sang, her hair began to glow from the roots down to the ends. Jack, true to his word, didn't stir, but he couldn't help but watch wide eyed. When she finished the song, her hair stopped glowing and she unwrapped Jack's hand. He looked at it in awe. It was like the wound had never happened. "Whoa. That was AMAZING!" Jack jumped around in excitement and awe at his friend's power. "How long have you been able to do that? How did you learn how to do that? Oh my gosh! That was so cool!" Rapunzel watched her friends and let out a relieved laugh. Jack stopped when a realization struck him. He came back down and looked Rapunzel dead in the eye. "This is why you've never wanted to leave, isn't it?" "Rapunzel sighed in relief and nodded. At least he finally understood now. "My mother told me that some men tried to kidnap me when I was a baby so they could take the power for themselves. You see," She pulled back her long golden locks to reveal a single short strand of brown hair. "Once its cut, it loses its power. And a gift like this has to be protected."

_Protected_

_protected…._

Jack awoke with that last word echoing in his head. The sun was just beginning to rise. He looked down at Rapunzel, wrapped inside her hair. He wasn't sure what his dream meant, but he knew one thing. He would do whatever he could to make sure that that amazing gift, and more importantly his best friend, were indeed protected.


End file.
